


Thundersnow

by Scraxivele



Series: Modern Faerie Tales [5]
Category: The Darkest Part of the Forest - Holly Black, The Folk of the Air - Holly Black, Tithe Series - Holly Black
Genre: F/M, One Shot, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 06:52:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26348887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scraxivele/pseuds/Scraxivele
Summary: Another small one shot, entered in a contest in a discord server I'm in for writing.
Relationships: NikkixThorn
Series: Modern Faerie Tales [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1610254
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	Thundersnow

“She reaches out 'n' takes my hand

And squeezes it 'n' says "How ya feelin', hon?"

And I look across at smilin' lips

That warm my heart and see my mornin' sun

And if that ain't lovin' me

Then all I've got to say

God didn't make the little green apples

And it don't snow in Minneapolis when the winter comes”

-Little Green Apple, Roger Miller

  
  


Thundersnow

  
  


It was falling _again._

There were already trenches of it everywhere she looked, creating a barrier between the street and the people walking on the sidewalks. Nikki didn’t hate snow, but there was certainly such a thing as too much of it. The trenches were up to her hips; that was no common feat when compared to the storms of her childhood. Thorn had told her that this was fairly common in the wintertime around New York, but naturally she hadn’t believed him. He loved snow. If the mountains of white flakes could reach up to their apartment windows, he’d be ecstatic. At least, she could appreciate how the street lights reflected off the pools of water and slush, or the crests of the snow plowed mounds in the darkness of this particular December morning. At least she was headed home and not back to work.

Nikki squinted and felt a shiver run up her spine as a gust of wind blew fresh flakes around her face. She pulled the large maroon jacket she’d stolen from him around herself tighter, and tried to hide her quickly greying fingers in the thick sleeves. She was as thankful as ever that he never got cold. She’d found the heavy, dual-layered coat buried in the back of his closet before they’d moved. He’d said he’d bought it for working out in the snow on the golf course, but it had never gotten cold enough for him to wear it. 

Freak of nature.

As she hugged the coat around herself she couldn’t help but crack that goofy, love-filled smile that took her over every time she thought about going home to him. She had it all. Everything she never thought she’d have. A quiet job, friends who looked out for her, an apartment less than a block away from where they both worked, and a boy she loved at home waiting for her. Looking back on all of it, it was no easy thing tracing the lines of how it had come to this. By all rights, everything that happened to them was supposed to lead to tragedy, but somehow, it really had worked out perfectly. 

When she pulled open their complex’s door she felt the hot air of the lobby blow over her face and blonde hair and her spine twitched a little at the sensation. She headed right for the stairs and started her daily climb. Before, she’d never gotten this much exercise in her life, and even six months into living here, the five flights were still a little much but, hey, it was home. 

She fished around in the deep pockets of the outer coat, careful to only grab for the duct-taped handle of her key. She still made the odd mistake now and then but for the most part, she had it worked out to where she never had to touch metal anymore. She twisted the key in the lock and slipped her hand back into her sleeve to turn the handle. Nikki stepped inside, only to be greeted with a wall of very unwelcome cold air. She turned around and shut the door before looking back at the far wall, already knowing what the culprit was. That damned window.

“Thorn,” she grumbled toward one of the large open windows that led to their fire escape. 

“Yeah?” She heard his deep voice, muffled by the distance and wind outside.

She sighed and marched to the window as the rest of her glamour faded. Her antlers grew up from the crest of her head, platinum blonde eyebrows grew long and thin off the sides of her face and the rest of her skin faded to its natural deep, purple-grey tone. “How many times do I have to tell you to shut the window if you’re gonna sit out here,” she asked as she poked her head out the window and found him just as she expected to. They’d found an old ratty couch out on the curb one day and, after she’d spent a little time cleaning the cushions, Thorn had carried it out onto their fire escape landing. It thankfully wasn’t very heavy and it provided Thorn a place of reprieve from Nikki blasting the heat in the living room all winter.

The tips of her ears slowly grew up through her hair as she watched his eyes flick over to her. That silly sly smirk that she loved so much played over his lips and his long canines poked out from behind them. The sight of his nearly-black eyes and graying black hair made her knees weak, even after so much time with him. He patted the seat of the couch beside him and she rolled her eyes before climbing through the window, shutting it behind her. 

“You’re a freak, you know that?” She asked as she tipped herself backward over the arm of the couch and let her head fall into his lap. At least he was wearing jeans and a hoodie this time. She’d caught him out here in a t-shirt and shorts more than once. “You’re going to freeze one day, and I hope I’m there to see it” 

He made a face of mock offense before they both broke out into a short laugh. “Well you couldn’t say it if it weren’t true, so‒” he shrugged, letting the gesture finish his sentence. 

“You just have to know how to say it,” she smirked and poked one long grey finger against his nose. “I’d be able to stop you from freezing like I did before. So it’s not a lie,” she smiled up at him and felt his fingers dredge into her hair. She’d kept it short and more often than not she’d used Kaye’s method of glamoring it to stay pin-straight. She’d found that when Thorn’s walls were down that he actually quite liked to run his fingers through it, so having it long and full of knots wasn’t much of an option anymore. 

“How was hockey last night?” She asked softly and closed her eyes, thanking the stars that he was always so warm to the touch. 

“Not bad, didn’t play very well but it was fun.”

“That’s great.” she beamed and took his free hand between hers. “You’ll get better. You haven’t played for two years.”

“I know. It’ll take some time.”

“What are you doing out here anyway?”

“Well, I was gonna watch the sunrise but honestly the weatherman says we might get something even better.”

“Like what?” She frowned and turned her head to look up at the sky. Between all the buildings and across the bay she could see the faintest beginnings of pink and orange lights in the early morning sky, but overhead the clouds were still black and thick. 

“They said we could be getting some lightning.”

“I thought dogs were afraid of lightning,” she smirked and poked her fingers into his ribs. He jolted a little before catching her hand again and she couldn’t help the bubbly laugh that followed. 

“Well _I’m_ not,” he snorted. “Besides, thundersnow is too cool to pass up.”

“What the hell is thundersnow?” She giggled before the answer came to her. “Okay don’t answer that, it’s kinda self-explanatory. But like, is that a real thing?”

“Yeah, dude,” he confirmed with slight confusion in his face. “Have you never seen it before? You didn’t grow up that far from here.”

“No. Is it just like, lightning but with snow? You like that?” 

“Well y-yeah,” he said softly before scratching the back of his head. “Is that weird?” 

“No. I like thunderstorms,” she admitted. “Just never thought you would. But I guess it has snow involved, so—” she rolled her luminescent blue eyes— “shouldn’t be surprised.” Nikki let a yawn out and stretched herself out on top of him. “Pass me the blanket,” she said slowly and he reached to the far side of the couch. He grabbed for his blue fuzzy blanket that she’d started to stash underneath one of the cushions so it wouldn’t get wet or frozen. He spread it out over her and she curled up as best she could into his warmth. 

“Not gonna watch the sunrise?” 

Nikki pressed her hands into his thighs and stretched up to meet his lips with hers. She wanted to give him more than the fleeting gesture but it could wait until this afternoon. 

“I already saw my sunrise,” she whispered into the skin of his throat as she lay herself against him and threaded her fingers into his. “Good luck with your storm.”

“Hmm,” she heard him smile. “Goodnight Nik.” 

“Good morning.”


End file.
